Addison Gardiner

Addison Gardiner
From 1903'sNotable Men of Central New York
Chief Judge of theNew York Court of Appeals
In office 1854–1855
Preceded by	Charles H. Ruggles
Succeeded by	Hiram Denio
Judge of theNew York Court of Appeals
In office 1847–1854
Preceded by	None (position created)
Succeeded by	Charles H. Ruggles
Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office 1845–1847
Governor	Silas Wright John Young
Preceded by	Daniel S. Dickinson
Succeeded by	Albert Lester(acting)
Judge of theEighth Circuit Courtof New York
In office 1829–1838
Preceded by	John Birdsall
Succeeded by	John B. Skinner
District AttorneyofMonroe County, New York
In office 1827–1829
Preceded by	Daniel D. Barnard
Succeeded by	Daniel D. Barnard
Personal details
Born	(1797-03-19)March 19, 1797 Rindge, New Hampshire
Died	June 5, 1883(1883-06-05)(aged 86) Rochester, New York
Resting place	Mount Hope Cemetery,Rochester, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Selkrigg (m. 1831-1869, her death)
Children	2
Parent(s)	William Gardner Rebecca (Raymond) Gardner
Education	Union College
Profession	Attorney

Addison Gardiner(March 19, 1797 – June 5, 1883) was an American lawyer and politician who served as thelieutenant governor of New Yorkfrom 1845 to 1847 and Chief Judge of theNew York Court of Appealsfrom 1854 to 1855.

Early life and career

Gardiner was born inRindge, New Hampshire,on March 19, 1797, the son of William Gardner and Rebecca (Raymond) Gardner.The family eventually settled inManlius, New York,where William Gardner became a successful businessman. Gardner's sons, including Addison, later decided to restore the original spelling of their family name, Gardiner. Addison Gardiner was educated at Manlius Academy, and received his degree fromUnion Collegein 1819. He was later admitted to the college'sPhilomathean Societyas an honorary member. In 1851, Gardiner received thehonorary degreeofLL.D.from theUniversity of Rochester.

After college, Gardinerstudied law,wasadmitted to the barin 1822, and began practicing inRochester, New York,withSamuel L. Selden,who later became a judge of theNew York Court of Appeals.Selden's brotherHenry R. Seldenlater studied law with Gardiner and Selden, then served as lieutenant governor and judge of the Court of Appeals. Gardiner was the firstJustice of the Peaceever elected in Rochester.

D.A. and Circuit Judge

In 1827, Gardiner was appointed District Attorney of Monroe County. From 1829 to 1838, he was Judge of theEighth Circuit Courtof New York, with jurisdiction over the counties of Allegany, Erie, Chautauqua, Monroe, Genesee and Niagara. The Anti-Masonic excitement, growing out of the disappearance ofWilliam Morgan,had now commenced, and perhaps the most important case that came before Judge Gardiner, while on the bench of the circuit court, was that against Elihu Mather who was tried for conspiracy in the abduction of Morgan. After the acquittal of the defendant, a motion for a new trial was made in theNew York State Supreme Court.The case is to be found in the fourth volume of Wendell's reports, page 220. The head notes, giving the disposition of the various questions raised, occupy four pages. On many of the points it has ever been a leading case. All the rulings of the judge were sustained by the Supreme Court, and these, and other decisions, gave him the reputation of the model circuit judge. He resigned his judicial office in February 1838, and returned to the practice of law at Rochester.

Lieutenant Governor and Court of Appeals

In November 1844, hewas electedLieutenant GovernorofNew Yorkon theDemocraticticket, withSilas Wrightfor Governor. Many important questions came before theNew York State Senatewhile he presided. It was the period of the anti-rent disturbances, and various preventive and remedial measures were discussed. The enlargement of the canals, and other questions concerninginternal improvements,received attention. One of the most important bills provided for the call of astate conventionfor the formation of a new constitution. As President of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor Gardiner was the presiding officer of theCourt for the Correction of Errors,then the state's highest court of appeal, consisting of the president of the Senate, the senators, chancellor, and justices of theNew York Supreme Court.Not many cases were carried to this tribunal, litigation usually ceasing with the decision of the Supreme Court or that of thechancellor,so that most of them were important in principle or amount. Those decided during his presidency can be found in Denio's reports. Gardiner wasreelectedLieutenant Governor in 1846, defeatingHamilton Fish,theWhigcandidate, by a majority of 13,000 votes, although the Whig's candidate for governorJohn Youngwas elected by a majority of more than 11,000 over the incumbent Governor Wright - then, the governor and the lieutenant governor, althoughrunning mates,were elected on separate ballots. Gardiner had been nominated on a cross-endorsed ticket with Young by the Anti-Renters whose votes decided this election.

Gardiner was among the first judges elected on June 7, 1847, to the newNew York Court of Appeals.On June 22, he drew the longest term (eight years and a half), and took office on July 5, according to the new State Constitution adopted in 1846. To fill the vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor, aspecial electionwas held at the annual State elections, and Fish was elected for the remainder of Gardiner's unexpired term. Gardiner became chief judge in 1854, and held the office until the end of 1855 when his term expired.

His opinions

Judge Gardiner's opinions are reported in Denio's, Comstock's, Selden's and the first three volumes of Reman's reports. Among them are the cases of:

• Miller v. Gable (2 Denio, 492), on charitable uses, holding that chancery, under its general jurisdiction over trusts, will interfere, on behalf of members of a religious corporation to which a fund has been granted, to prevent it from diverting the fund to promote the teaching of doctrines essentially variant from those designated, but not as to lesser shades of doctrine.
• Mayor of New York v. Baily (2 Denio, 433), holding that an action on the case for malfeasance will be against the corporation; if the city be empowered by statute to construct works, the state reserving the power to appoint commissioners to superintend the construction, the acceptance of the act by the city renders it liable for injuries arising for want of skill, or neglect, in building the works.
• Danks v. Quackenbush (1 Comstock, 129), in which he dissented, with three others of the judges, constituting one-half of the court, from the opinion of the four others, that the act of 1842, extending the exemption of personal property from the sale under execution, is unconstitutional and void as to debts contracted before its passage.
• Leggett v. Perkins (2 Comstock, 267), holding that a trust to receive and pay over the rents and profits of land was valid, under the statute authorising a trustee to receive the same and apply them to the use of any person.
• People v. Schuyler (2 Comstock, 173), reversing the decree of the Supreme court, and holding that if the sheriff after the jury have found for a claimant, refuses to deliver the property, the surety on his official bond is liable, though the creditor does not indemnify him, and, where he requires and receives indemnity before selling and judgment is afterwards recovered against him for the erroneous seizure, his sureties, on payment of the judgment, are entitled to be subrogated to the indemnity.
• Chautauqua Co. Bank v. White (2 Selden, 236), holding that an assignment by the debtor to the receiver of all his real property leaves no residuary interest in the debtor, and reversing the decree of the Supreme court, and affirming that of the vice-chancellor.
• Nicholson v. Leavitt (2 Selden, 510), reversing with the concurrence of all the judges, the judgment of the Superior court of the city of New York, and holding that an assignment by insolvent debtors of their property to trustees for the benefit of their creditors, with an authorisation to the trustees to sell the assigned property upon credit, is fraudulent and void as against the creditors of the assignees.
• Talmage v. Pell (3 Selden, 328), on the powers of banking associations, reversing the judgment of the Supreme court.
• Kundolf v. Thalheimer (2 Kernan, 593), on the powers of county courts, reversing the judgment of the Supreme court.

Later life

After his retirement from the Court of Appeals he continued to lend his aid in the administration of justice as a referee. For twenty years, he arbitrated many important causes. He died in Rochester and was buried atMount Hope Cemeteryin Rochester.

Family

In 1831 he married Mary Selkrigg. Their children were Charles A. Gardiner and Celeste M. Gardiner. His oldest brother, William Gardiner, (1787-ca. 1855), resided several years inLowell, Massachusetts,then removed toTexas,where he died on his plantation nearSan Antonio.Another brother, Charles (1789–1860) was a merchant inNew Orleans.His sister Rebecca (1791-ca. 1818), married Oren Stone, a merchant, and the partner ofGovernor Seymour'sfather, and lived atWatertown, New York.Another sister, Dorothy, married Thomas A. Gould, a lawyer ofPittsfield, Massachusetts,where she died in 1857. The youngest sister, Louisa, born about 1800, marriedElijah Rhoades,ofManlius,a merchant and New York State Senator.

Legacy

Addison Gardiner is the namesake ofGardiner, New York.

Sources

• Papers of Victory BirdseyeThe Chancellor Robert R Livingston Masonic Library of Grand Lodge
• [1]Death notice, in NYT on June 6, 1883
• The New York Civil Listcompiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 32, 348 and 356; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)